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This article from the April, 1985 Gazette, gives insight into the "fun" side of Hare 'n Hounds Rallyes.

I SAW THE DEAD COYOTE

Hare, George England, told us about the dead coyote on the rally trail. It slipped my memory because I didn't believe it till we saw it. We seemed lost on the semi - paved road that was practically one big chuck hole leading to nowhere. Until the dead coyote... just as George warned. In the opposite bound lane. It told us we were on course, This incident resembles the momentarily live armadillo that Flegal and I hired to cross the road in one of our rallies two years ago.

As you know, the object of a Hare ‘n Hounds Rally is for the Hounds to catch the Hares by following a trail of lime bags dropped on the side of the road by the Hares. Lime bags are one mile or less apart, in either of three directions at any intersection, and lowest mileage wins. Saucier and England were the Hares and a pack of 17 rally cars served as Hounds in the 12th Annual Hare & Hounds Rally held on Sunday, March 10th.

The rally was quite competitive. If Mike and Judi Anderson had not interfered, I feel sure we would have placed first. As it was - we had to settle for fifteenth. For us, the rally was a continuous display of Anderson’s dirty tricks.

The way to win a Hare ‘n Hound is to wait for the other Hounds to mess up. Headlights returning from any direction usually mean no lime bag and more mileage for the unsatisfactory sniffer. You sit and wait for a car to return or not to return. If a car doesn't return for a “reasonable” period of time, you assume the lime was spotted and follow suit. (The definition of “reasonable” depends upon whether or not your navigator is a racer.)

Now, back to Anderson’s cheap chicanery. Some of Anderson’s ploys included several unsuccessful attempts to park over the lime bags. That didn't work because it is necessary to cover the entire patch of lime. Another aide attraction was the light show. He frequently turned off his lights so we would not recognize his white Datsun, 240Z, with a numbered windshield as a rally car. He feigned electrical problems. But his most cruel and obnoxious maneuver took us by complete surprise. He left to look for a lime bag near Lake Draper and was gone approximately 15 minutes. My navigator/racer could wait no more - claimed it was sufficient time, so I was forced to follow Mike. I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn't right. Just before a mile was traveled, we drove onto a narrow two mile long bridge over Draper.

As we were about one quarter mile onto the bridge - there came the headlights (Sure he had ‘em on)! ! We were trapped -he smiled and waved as he passed in the opposite direction (he was not too farahead of a police car). He had parked on the opposite end of the bridge and waited all that time for some fool to follow. Several rally cars were behind us. A nameless rally team in a black Scirocco was seen turning around in the middle of the bridge.

Another strange happening occurred as the pack of seventeen cars with headlights were perched along a lonely intersection. A man in a truck stopped to ask me what we were doing. I should have said we were a Sheriff’s posse hunting for escapees. I foolishly tried to explain the rally. He kept eyeing the pack like he wanted to join us. As I described the lime bags he said he had come three miles down the road from the left and, had not seen one of such “lime bags”. I believed him. He was wrong. Probably another Anderson set - up.

John and Cheryl Kuper’s odometer broke as they left Anderson/O'Brien’s parking lot at the beginning of the rally. I didn't check to see if they had just had it serviced at Anderson/O’Brien’s (ha). They guessed right, but couldn't be given credit with no mileage recorded on the Odo.

Other items of interest were the cars that traveled in reverse more than in forward gear to reduce mileage. I still say that Norm Burrough’s Odo should have read - 42 instead of +42 miles. Bruce and Pat Shaw were accused of having a helicopter spotting for them (we did see a helicopter overhead). If they did - they obviously had severe air - to - ground radio trouble because they were following us.

Another problem was caused by cars returning from a particular direction when the lime bag was, in fact, there. Either the dummies didn't drive far enough or they knew it was there but were purposely deceptive. At the Rally Committee meeting we will discuss administering sodium pentothal to returning drivers next year to get at the real truth.

Some cars were able to escape Anderson’s debauchery. The Jim Steeles placed first; Moose McBride & Mouse McGill were second to get the Hare; and Dick Fleming, missing his wife Jo, was third. Wiley and Ricky Hunt with the quick eye of granddaughter Dominique placed fourth; and Gwen Junghanns, her two daughters, and Jimmy Johns came in fifth. Anderson managed to beat us, twelfth to fifteenth.

Carol England supplied delicious refreshments; beer and pop were plentiful but, consumed in due time. England and Saucier say they plan to tighten up next year because of too many ties. The Flegal/Jackson team plans not to fall prey to the Anderson/Anderson team next year - or at least we will try to bribe the MacKechnies spotting at the halfway point.